My original exposure
to British music of the 20th
century came from the Lyrita releases
during the 1970s here in the United
States. I bought them sight unseen -
or ear unheard - because of the consistently
high quality of both the performances
and the physical sound. Lyrita then
went under in the early 1980s, leaving
the standard of British music to be
carried mostly by Chandos and to some
degree by EMI. At the time, hardly anyone
did British music better than the folks
at Lyrita, but since then, quite a few
conductors, orchestras, and labels have
matched or excelled in quality the original
Lyrita recordings. Still, you can’t
go wrong with Lyrita, especially now
in a market where recordings come into
and go out of print with astonishing
and frustrating frequency. Thankfully,
the heirs to the Lyrita catalog have
begun to release more of their back
catalog, after a spate of releases a
decade ago: the stunning releases of
Alwyn, Rawsthorne, and Wordsworth. I
welcome them all.
This disc contains
two of the best works by composer E.J.
Moeran, who wrote unabashedly — or unavoidably
— in the shadow of Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Sir Adrian Boult, Vaughan Williams’
most able interpreter, does bring out
the languorousness in this music, but
he also sacrifices some of the aggressiveness
that other conductors have brought out
since Sir Adrian’s days. I’m thinking
here of Norman Del Mar and Vernon Handley
of Chandos who have done wonders with
this very same music. What Boult does
is to bring out the stunning melancholy
of these works with very even-handed
takes on each of the works here.
This is especially
true in the Sinfonietta (1944).
Norman Del Mar’s version of the Sinfonietta
(Chandos 8456) is more audacious in
the opening bars than Sir Adrian is
here and some of the tonal framing is
much less crisp, but Boult’s calculation
is always to err on the side of conservatism.
This makes for a very consistent Delius-like
atmosphere - as opposed to a revelatory
Holstian mood – and depending on the
orchestra under Boult’s baton, can be
a real delight. I must confess, however,
that the LPO has always struck me as
a bit too staid, almost to the
point of sleep-walking through some
passages. But giving this performance
its due, the LPO does capture the soul
of this beautiful music and the physical
sound - realized from its original analog
source - is just robust enough to give
the work the energy it needs.
The Symphony in
G minor (1934-7), I think, is a
more heart-felt and dramatic work and
it’s here that you can see the more
overt influences of Vaughan Williams
— which is either good or bad, depending
on your tastes. What redeems Moeran
in the Symphony in G minor is
his rendering of this work’s internal
harmonic forces in a more kinetic manner.
Vaughan Williams takes a mood and wrings
it for all it’s worth; Moeran declares
his theme then goes about efficiently
unfolding it. He then moves on, something
Vaughan Williams couldn’t do. I also
found this recording - here with the
New Philharmonia Orchestra, recorded
in 1975 - to be a much tighter performance
than the Vernon Handley (on Chandos
8577). Though to give Handley credit,
his touch with the Ulster Orchestra
brings out the more luminous aspects
of this music by comparison with those
Sir Adrian gets out of his New Philharmonia
forces. Sir Adrian brings the Symphony
in a full two minutes faster than Handley
and that makes for greater cohesion.
Perhaps the disappointment
here is the Overture for a Masque
(recorded by the LPO in 1968) with a
real botch of an opening. The declaratory
opening flounders for several measures
and the work never seems to regain its
footing from there. Handley (on Chandos
8577), again with the Ulster Orchestra,
fairly bursts into the work, splattering
color everywhere, setting a truly celebratory
mood. It’s a masque, after all,
and should be both showy and graceful,
neither of which, sad to say, Boult
brings out of the LPO.
Yet, I think Boult
shows us how this music can be performed
and in places he does get it absolutely
right. I’d just refer the reader to
the various Chandos recordings for performances
of E.J. Moeran that improve on the already
superior performances Boult gets here.
Paul Cook
see also review
by Rob Barnett March RECORDING
OF THE MONTH
The
Lyrita Catalogue
NOTE: Hear the Moeran Symphony
live with the Ealing Symphony Orchestra/John
Gibbons on Saturday 12 May 2007 at 7.30pm
in St Barnabas Church, Pitshanger Lane,
Ealing. London W5. John Gardner Half-Holiday
Overture Moeran Symphony in G
minor Rachmaninov Piano Concerto
3. Tickets from Richard Partridge, Hon.
Secretary 020 8567 4075 secretary@ealingso.org.uk
Comparative reviews
Symphony
Lloyd-Jones http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2002/Oct02/Moeran_symphony.htm
Handley http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Sept04/moeran_symphony.htm
Dilkes http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Sept04/moeran_emi.htm
Heward http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2006/Nov06/Moeran_Collected78s_27808.htm
for
details
London Philharmonic Orchestra (Sinfonietta
and Overture for a Masque); New
Philharmonia Orchestra (Symphony in
G minor)/Sir Adrian Boult 
